"Hydration," I add when she doesn't continue.
"Exactly. You get it."
"Do you pee every two minutes or what?"
"Three." She corrects me and nibbles off some of her pizza. Cora reaches for the stack of napkins, giving herself one and passing a few down to me.
"Thank you," I tell her, taking them. "What do you think?" I hold up my slice to her.
"Good, I approve." She finishes her piece but doesn't reach for another.
I hide a triumphant smirk and polish the two she plated for me off, along with my breadstick.
"Do you live here alone?" Cora breaks off a piece of her breadstick and eats it, turning toward me and managing to cross her legs on the small stool.
"Yes."
"No wife?" Cora averts her gaze to the breadstick she's picking at.
"No."
"Girlfriend?"
"No."
"Boyfriend?"
"I'm straight, if that's what you're asking." I wipe my hands on the napkin and swivel my chair toward her, too.
She shrugs. "You can never be too sure."
I clear my throat. "What about you?"
"I'm straight for the most part..."
I chuckle. "That wasn't what I was asking but good to know."
Cora takes a long swig of her Sprite. "Then what were you asking?"
"Do you have a husband or boyfriend wondering where you are right now?"
"No, I do not have either of those. I am very single." She exhales. "Very, very single."
"You mentioned your parents, do you need to let them know you won't be coming home tonight?"
Cora chews at her lip before answering. "No."
I leave space for her to elaborate on what feels like an open-ended answer.
"We aren't really talking right now," she adds. "My mom, she's...sick, and I haven't seen her lately. And my dad..." Her entire body seems to tense at the mention of him. "We got into a fight, and I really can't stand him."
"I'm sorry," I say because I'm not sure what else I can do to help her. I'm used to fixing people's problems, not help them process their emotions and shit like this. Give me a dead body and I'll get rid of it, but this...it's uncharted territory.
"It's fine," Cora mutters almost like a knee-jerk reaction.
Whatever is going on with herisn'tfine, but why should she confide in me about it when we've only just met? It's strange how desperately I want to help her while understanding that I need to give her space. There's this big part of me that wants to grab her into my arms and hold her tight and never let her go, butthatwould be insane and would fully justify her stabbing me to death just like she did with that man at The Wellerton. Only the difference between me and him would be that I would be doing it to keep her safe, not put her in any further danger.
"Is it bad that I don't feel that bad about Joshua?" She glances up at me through her lashes, her voice barely a whisper.
